How does one clean a soiled tallit?

I live in the Chicago area. Does anyone know a cleaner I can use? After 40 years, it's time I had my Tallit cleaned.

Hello,
I have my husband's tallit which is not made of wool, but a "silky" material...don't know what exactly. As my husband is deceased, my grandson who is about to be Bar Mitzvah would like to use it for his ceremony. I am honored that he do so. The tallit is in excellent condition, but I am fooling with the idea of freshening it up, by having it cleaned. I have mixed feelings about this as I am afraid of it being ruined on the other hand.... Do you have any knowledge of where I could have this done professionally? In your experience, can this type of tallit be cleaned and how does it come out. I may be better not doing anything, but I am conflicted over this. Can you please advise me? Thanks,

I am a specialty dry cleaner in Akron, Ohio, and have been cleaning tallit's for years. A tallit should never be dry cleaned. The main reason is the high possibility of the tallit coming into contact with linen fibers, even if it is cleaned alone in a separate load. 99% of dry cleaners NEVER use purified distilled solvents on each load as we do. Why? because it is extremely expensive to do so. The point being is that a recycled load of solvent will almost always have linen fibers in it, and even the fibers must not come in contact with the wool.

We hand wash all tallit's separately, with a mild fragrance free hypoallergenic detergent, and ALWAYS drip dry. Once again, just as an added precaution, the tallit is never put into a washing machine to spin, or a dryer, because there is a possibility of it coming in contact with linen fibers. When we press them, we lay down a pressing cloth on the pressing board made of pure Egyptian muslin on both the top and bottom of the tallit, ensuring that even during the pressing process the tallit doesn't come in contact with any wool fibers that may me on the pressing board.

Although this may seem to be "over kill”, it’s the right way to do it.

John Sarvis

where can we get moth holes repaired? We need to use the tallis for a chuppah.

My wool tallit has a number of small moth holes. Can it be repaired and will it be kosher?

Thanks to G-d I have purchased a new tallit and I have also found a Jewish cleaners that doesn't ruin it. I still have the old on and I may take you up on the idea of cutting the "dreadlocks" off the old one. Thank you for your comments

I found out that after washing my wool tallit in the sink (letting it soak a bit then pressing the bubbles through the layers and making suds, that the "feathers" don't look like feathers anymore but dreadlocks or octopus legs... so I cut em off except for a small knob at the end...hope this doesn't de-kosher it - actually its not bad looking it cleans the look up - would this happen at a dry cleaners?

How does one embrace an inclination by to wear a tallit all the time? Are there tallits that are more durable than others? Is there a color that will stand the use more than the white one which I own? Is there a regulation about how many you can own?

I own several tallits, some made with wool and also a couple made with acrylic blend.
I have hand washed them all in woolite with cold water.
They all come out fine when steam ironed after drying.
I have no confidence in the dry cleaners where I live. I'd hate to spend $$$ with them and have the tallit ruined after.
None of them look any worse for wear when using woolite, and they have all held up nicely.